Abstract
Little is known about the aphid fauna of Algeria, with only 57 species of aphid recorded as present to date. This study, involving a literature survey and 14 years of trapping and host plant prospecting, extends the number of known Algerian aphid species to 120. Sixty-three of these species were recorded for the first time in this country, and 27 were recorded for the first time in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The aphid fauna of Algeria includes a large number of cosmopolitan species (42.1%) and no endemic species. It is very similar to the European aphid fauna and very different from the Sub-Saharan aphid fauna, despite the geographical proximity of this region. Most (68.3%) of the species identified are crop pests. This composition biased towards species with a broad geographical distribution that generally act as crop pests probably reflects current lack of knowledge about this fauna. Future studies should lead to an increase in the number of species identified as present in this country, probably resulting in a change in the general characteristics of this fauna.